Hold Onto Me
by Lur27
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Post-Always. An after story to the rooftop scene. She will always have someone to hold onto, even when there's no hope. CASKETT. Co-authored with CastleWriter16.


**A/N:** So, this is what happened. I started writing this a couple of days ago, but I was kind of blocked and I had to leave it. Today, I was feeling super inspired, and I decided to get down to work and finish it. I did it and then I sent it to my beta (who is also a great writer, go check her work), CastleWriter16, who loved the concept. When she returned the file to me, I was shocked to see all the changes she had suggested, but as I read through it, I realized she had made the story a million times better.

This is the final product, and I can totally say it's more a collaboration than a story I've written myself. Thanks, girl, for making our first collab be a surprise for both of us ;) You're the best!

I hope you guys enjoy this. Let us know what you think!

**DISCLAIMER: Obviously we don't own Castle. **(I forgot to add this when I posted it... No harm, right? :P)

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**Hold Onto Me**

Kate is hanging off the roof. It's amazing how things can change in the blink of an eye. She was pointing her gun at him one second, and rolling off the roof the other. Now she's clutching at the cold eaves for dear life, but her traitorous hands are slipping, and she wishes for a moment she were a cat so she could plunge her nails into the stone.

She can see her assailant hovering over her, the wicked smile he's been wearing for so long not leaving his face. He's enjoying this; she can tell. His eyes shone brightly every time he managed to successfully deliver a blow.

He smiles down at her. Kate knows his type all too well - the rush of adrenaline pumping wildly through his veins, the satisfaction of seeing her helpless. This is what he was taught to live for, and she knows that he loves every second of it.

She knows what he's thinking, but he spares her any further wondering, speaking his thoughts out loud. "There is nothing like knowing when you're about to break someone. When they reach that point where they can't fight anymore. You can practically see their faith, their determination, dying in their eyes as you take their lives away."

Her blood chills in her veins and she tries to shake those words out of her head. She's not going to break. She still has fight in her. She won't give up.

She closes her eyes, trying to gather all the strength she can, and when she opens them again, she finds him crouching in front of her, his hands crossed over his thighs and that insulting smirk still on his face.

"You're done, Kate Beckett." Maddox says through gritted teeth. "Ain't it ironic? They sent me to take you down, but seriously, I never thought I would literally throw you down over the edge of a building. Life is indeed poetic…" He laughs. "You should let go. You won't have anything to live for, Kate. I'm going to make sure there's nothing left that means anything to you. Not a single thing."

Kate swallows hard and tries to get a better grip on the eaves. Her nails are worn and the joints of her arms and fingers are starting to hurt like hell. She knows she won't last long, but she can't let go just like that.

A voice resonates in the distance calling her name. Kate closes her eyes and swears. He shouldn't be here.

"KATE!" Castle calls. She can't figure out how he found out where she was. "KATE! Talk to me! Where are you?"

Maddox's evil smile grows wider as Castle's voice sounds across the rooftop. She feels her heart stop at the thought of what's going to happen. He shouldn't be here.

"Where is she?" The writer asks, his voice shaking. "What have you done to her?"

The sniper stands back up and turns his back to her. "Oh, I have a feeling she'll _drop by_ any second now. Right, _Katie_?" He jokes.

"Kate?" She hears him say, his voice low and shaky.

"Castle, get outta here!" She shouts. She needs him to go. She needs him to be safe so she can keep holding onto that roof. "Please go!"

"Yes, Castle, why don't you leave and let me finish, huh? We all know who's going to win this." Maddox mocks him.

"You hurt her and I'll kill you, you hear me?"

Maddox lets out a loud laugh and she hears the audible click of the safety of his gun being switched off. Her breathing stills momentarily as she listens to the conversation above her."A little too late for that, don't you think? Two more minutes and she'll be dead. And let's be serious, shall we? You? Kill me? Come on…"

There's a pause in dialogue and she can't hear anything but the sound of the wind whispering in her ear."You better stay put, Castle." Maddox finally says, his tone teasing. "We don't want things to get ugly between us, do we?"

"Castle, please! Just go away. Please!" Kate yells. He shouldn't be here. He just shouldn't be here.

Suddenly things become blurry and she hears a rough movement and a gun firing. Someone falls to the ground with a thud, and her heart stops when she hears Castle's heaving voice calling her name.

"K-Ka-te."

Tears begin to roll down her face without her even realizing it. "Castle?" She calls, her voice trembling through her sobs. "Castle, no!"

"Your friend had to leave unexpectedly, Kate. But don't worry, you two will meet really soon." She hears the gun clatter to the cement and Maddox chuckles.

He suddenly appears above her again and grabs her wrists, forcing her to let go. Her hands are sore and stiff from hanging on for so long and she's almost thankful for being able to let go. She knows what comes next and she doesn't even care anymore. The only reason she was holding onto that roof is lying on the floor a few feet away from her. Nothing seems important enough to keep fighting now. Maddox fulfilled his threats, and now there's nothing left to live for. She's done.

"And there it is." The sniper whispers, "That look that says 'I give up'." The wicked smile he's been wearing fades as his eyes lock with hers for what she _knows_ is the last time. "It's been a pleasure, Kate Beckett." He says, letting go of her wrists and watching her fall the long way to the ground.

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She's shaking. Her legs are kicking the covers and her mouth is open in a silent scream. It's _that_ nightmare again.

Three months have passed since that fateful day and she has that horrible nightmare almost every night.

He can always tell when it starts.

He normally sleeps on his back with Kate practically on top of him, her head on his chest and her legs tangled with his. When she starts dreaming, her hands grab his shirt (when he's wearing one) for dear life and her legs start moving awkwardly. Her face contorts into a pained grimace and she shakes her head all the time, as if she is trying to deny access to the unwanted dream.

It started the first night they spent together, right after the real thing, and she wasn't able to sleep again after it. He had held her close to his chest and run his fingers through her tangled hair, whispering sweet nothings in her ear.

Sunrise caught them still awake, Kate wrapped protectively in his arms. "I've got you, Kate," he'd murmured. "It's okay."

It's been like that ever since then. She wakes up screaming, searching for him. He holds her, tries to calm her down and then they spend the rest of the night reassuring one another that they're there, that they're okay. Alive.

Sometimes they make love, slow and sweet, their eyes locked all the time as they celebrate life. Those nights she manages to go back to sleep, her arms locked around his waist.

Sometimes she gets up, pulls him with her, and they sink into the couch, cuddled up together as they watch an old movie in an attempt to take her mind off of it.

And sometimes, perhaps most often, they just stay there like they did the first time. Castle cradles her and lets her hold onto him, because that's exactly what he's there for. He's there to be her anchor, her rock, and she knows she can count on him being there every single night, waiting for her to come back from her own personal hell.

He's always holding onto her.

THE END.

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